First Mover Americas: What Comes After BTC’s Flirt With Record High

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Bitcoin pushed to a record high on Tuesday, briefly rising above $69,000 on Coinbase, a level first touched on Nov. 10, 2021. The all-time high didn’t last long however; the world’s largest cryptocurrency has since retreated to around $67,000. There was a market-wide sell-off to as low as $60,800 and more than $1 billion in liquidations amid the volatility. Bitcoin rebounded in Asian morning hours, indicating resilience. Some observers said the selling pressure was likely driven by profit-taking at historical highs and miners offloading some of their bitcoin holdings. Institutional crypto exchange LMAX Digital said in a morning note that the record sets the stage for a push toward $100,000. LMAX also noted that a deeper correction should not be ruled out. “As far as setbacks go, we expect any meaningful setbacks will be exceptionally well supported on dips, with the $50,000 area now seen as a formidable support zone,” said LMAX. “It’s possible there are some quick drops below $50,000. But any such dips should be short-lived.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) effort last year to freeze Binance.US’ operations via a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) led to mass layoffs at the company as revenue imploded and it struggled with market trust, one of its executives said during a court deposition. “In the immediate aftermath of the TRO, we saw somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 billion of assets flee the platform, crypto, and fiat,” Christopher Blodgett, a Binance.US executive, said during a December 2023 deposition that was recently published as part of a status update on the SEC-Binance lawsuit. This loss of assets led to a 75% slump in revenue and 200 layoffs – two-thirds of the workforce – at the U.S.-incorporated arm of Binance. This headcount reduction has affected the exchange’s ability to respond to discovery requests from the SEC because teams are stretched thin.

Revolut has joined forces with self-custodial wallet MetaMask to offer Revolut Ramp, a feature that will let users top up their MetaMask wallets with their Revolut account. The digital bank will enable users to make crypto purchases directly into MetaMask wallets in the U.K. and European Economic Area (EEA), an attempt to make adding crypto to self-custody wallets easier. Customers can use their fiat currency account balances or pay with Visa or Mastercard cards. "This partnership is really about giving our users what they want – more control over their crypto, in a straightforward way, using platforms they already know and trust," said Lorenzo Santos, senior product manager at MetaMask developer Consensys.

- Omkar Godbole